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Can Google Read Facebook?

I have heard a lot of people say a lot of things about what Google can and cannot do with Facebook. We know that social indicators are important for SEO, therefore, this question is an important one for anybody would like to see their website get a coveted first page position.

However, what can Google actually see? According to SearchEngineLand.com, Google is able to see Fan pages, including whatever a user posts, Facebook comments left on third-party sites, and what Facebook calls a “Public Search Listing,” which is the abbreviated form of your profile than people who aren’t friends can see. That’s it. Nothing else. Nada. Zilch. Zip.

So, what does it mean for you? Google is still using social signals for SEO, but, considering that it can’t index most of Facebook, you should remember that Facebook should not be the end of your social media/SEO strategy. That’s not to say that the social signals still aren’t being read, it just means that, shockingly, Google+ is more important to Google than Facebook is. I recently saw a very interesting test that explored what caused the greatest SEO gain through social media: getting Google+ followers was by far the most successful.

And, maybe this was Google’s plan all along: they know that their major claim to fame is their search engine, so that essentially giving away high rankings on it for companies that heavily use Google+. It certainly is an interesting way to conquer Facebook, but, considering Google+’s use, it might not be the best one.